Friday

Urwerk on Steroids - Titanium Aluminum Nitrade Coated 103.08

Thanks to Ian, the moderator of the Urwerk Forum at Horomundi for this latest unveiling and information!The TiAlN coated URWERK 103.08 - Harder than Steel!

TiAlN - Titanium Aluminum Nitride - treatment is well-known in industry for its exceptional properties. A TiAlN coating less than 4 microns thick has the effect of multiplying the resistance of the underlying metal to scratches, shocks, oxidation and even acids.

Its colour is dependant on the Titanium/Aluminium ratio and can range from melting bronze to stormy black.

For the very first time URWERK present their iconic 103 with a steel case and and not just any steel an incredibly hard TiAlN-coated steel. With this new model, URWERK blurs the frontier between horological art and cutting-edge technology. The coat of the steel 103.08 is the hardest yet known in the world of haute horlogerie.

"The TiAlN appears to have the gift of endowing supernatural properties to common metals like steel." Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK"TiAlN is a hard material which can be used as protective coating to enhance the lifetime of a variety of work pieces against mechanical or chemical attacks. The hardness of TiAlN is often between 30 and 40 GOa. In comparison, the hardness of DLC (diamond like carbon) is 20-25 GPa". Dr Ayat Karimi, Institute of Complex Matter Physics, EPFL, Lausanne.

While the 103.08 will not be a limited edition, only the first 50 watches will have the angular shaped crystal pictured here. After those first 50 'Launch Pieces', the shape of the crystal will revert to the standard curved shape.